And we're back. So, Natsu and Cobra have came a little closer to realising their feelings, and now more spirits have shown up to hurt the boys. This is going to be fun.
AsDarknessSpreads : Midnight is the nii san. And we're sorry that you don't like OCs, but for this story they're necessary.
Dragonlover89 : Unfortunately, that kiss was just an illusion. And if you're hoping for a happy reunion then you might just be disappointed.
Vedra77 : Don't apologise for not being able to review, we appreciate that you've reviewed the past chapters and you shouldn't have to feel pressured into reviewing. And we're glad that you like it. And you will find out all answers soon.
Guest : Hehe, you'll be getting the answers to your questions this chapter.
Otakulover4evr : Sadly, they only kissed an illusion. And the people will be revealed this chapter.
Shiroyamimaru : Thanks, and Midco is Kisshufan4ever's favourite pairing in Fairy tail.
Disclaimer : We still don't own Fairy Tail. You should probably be grateful for this.
Midnight stepped away from the child, jaw hanging open in shock. That's when the memories assaulted him.
He watched in an engaged manner as a younger version of himself held a tiny wailing child in his arms.
Panic filled his eyes.
"What do I do? What do I do?" The child version of himself rasped, a version of himself that only seemed to be five years of age.
Two adults stood nearby, gazing at the boys fondly. The woman smiled as she took back the infant, rocking him slowly.
The memory then flicked to another of him showing off his favourite toys to the infant. The child seemed particularly interested in an old stuffed bear.
Midnight - no - Macbeth looked at the teddy, then his brother and then back again.
Then, hesitantly, he thrust the toy into his little brother's arms.
The baby's face lit up with joy, and he gurgled merrily. He smiled and continued to play with the rest of his toys.
The scene changed again, and with it the mood altered drastically.
His uncle was holding his sweet baby brother, Aito, and he was kneeling down so that Midnight could say goodbye to his younger sibling.
Midnight remembered that his parents had loathed to leave the baby behind, but they had to travel for a short while to fulfil a task for their boss.
Their boss had regretted sending them away on business due to their newest arrival, but his parents were some of the best workers and they were needed to seal this deal.
They were watching the boys parting from the carriage that had been hired for this trip.
Macbeth leaned in and kissed his little brother's forehead gently.
His uncle ruffled his hair softly as Midnight whispered in his little brother's ear.
"We'll be back soon, Aito. Wait for me and I'll teach you how to play some awesome games soon. See you in a few weeks. Love you." He then hugged his uncle goodbye and raced over to his parents.
And the carriage trundled away, allowing Macbeth to see his Uncle and younger sibling alive one last time.
Midnight remembered daydreaming about what Aito would be like when he was older.
He would look a little bit like Midnight and he would be the best playmate ever.
Midnight had never gotten the opportunity to find out if his predictions would have came true as he was captured on the way home. That was when Macbeth had lost all memories except for his name. His little brother was wiped from his memories as easily and completely as his life had been wiped away from the face of the Earth.
The very last memory to come flooding back, was of Macbeth clutching the bars of a cage and weeping for a family that he couldn't remember. Then, one hand subconsciously reached out, as if to grasp the hand of another boy.
A boy that would die in a horrifying demon attack three years after Macbeth was captured, though Macbeth would remain painfully unaware of the fact that his precious baby brother and his loving uncle were deceased for another ten years.
Tears streamed down Midnight's cheeks as the perfect vision that he had had as a child of an older version of his younger brother was marred by the bloody trail that streaked across the spirit's face.
The insane grin also ruined the image somewhat.
"Bet you didn't think you'd see me all grown up? After all you never bothered to return to me, you got yourself captured. WE THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD!" Anger radiated from the tiny child, and Midnight wanted to bury himself in a hole, to turn away and never face this angry, twisted dead version of his beautiful little brother.
But he couldn't leave. That was just what the demon wanted.
And Midnight would never give in to the demon whose demonic family member had killed Midnight's own brother.
Gray also appeared to be caught up in memories, as his eyes were misted over.
But Midnight could barely tear his gaze from the broken shadow of his sibling.
His little brother had died an agonising and terrifying death, yet Midnight probably would have never remembered him if it wasn't for this quest.
"I used to look at pictures of you and mum and dad. I used to hug that stupid bear that you had left me. And I foolishly used to hope that one day you would all come back to me. Mum and dad wouldn't be gone forever, and you would teach me things like the other kid's older brothers. But that never happened. And I hate you!" The last line was hissed as his brother crossed the distance between them with a strange blur like motion, and the crazed eyes of the dead child stared into his.
And then Midnight was coughing up blood as a knife lodged itself into his stomach.
His brother's spirit danced away, spattered by Midnight's blood. Evidently his magic was still settling down from that whole demonic takeover.
Cobra snapped into action, pulling Midnight back to observe the wound, but Midnight shook him of brusquely.
There were more important things to deal with right now. His crippling emotional agony was way more debilitating then this wound could ever be.
Gray was being battered by his own storm of painful feelings.
His old nanny and maid were standing in front of him, bloody and bruised.
He could remember them vividly.
"Gray sama, come inside right now or you'll get a cold!" Kyoko's scolding voice was laced with fondness and Gray ran into her arms snickering.
Snow lightly dusted his raven locks and his cheeks were flushed with both cold and happiness.
"We've just made a brilliant snowman." This Gray was around five and giggles escaped his mouth along with soft pants as his nanny shook her head.
"Let's get you warmed up." She gathered Gray into her arms and carried him into the kitchen where Jun was preparing cookies.
He also remembered a time when he was just four were his parents had to stay late at work and his maid and his nanny had taken his mind off of his missing parents with numerous stories and fun games.
The two had been like aunts to Gray, more like family than staff to his child self.
Gray had many memories of their warm arms wrapped around him or their soothing voices singing with him. They had patted down plasters over small cuts and kissed bruises.
He had loved them and yet he had watched them both die.
He could still remember the way Jun had thrown herself in front of him, taking the hit that was meant to kill him and how Kyoko had yelled at him to run as the demon crushed her under foot.
Gray was faintly aware of Midnight being stabbed, of the tears running down his friend's cheeks, but Gray's own vision was distorted by tears and he wasn't sure how to deal with this situation at all.
He didn't know how to help Midnight when he was so torn up himself.
Cobra wanted to help Midnight desperately, wanted to tug him into the safety of his arms and shield him from the horrors of his past. He also wanted to tend to that wound, but Midnight was shrugging off all of his attempts to help.
The corrupted spirit of Midnight's dead kid brother was cackling madly, the signs of the demon's possession evident in his eyes.
For the first time since this whole mess had started, Midnight's thoughts were crystal clear to Cobra.
A fact that he couldn't rejoice seeing as his friend was suffering. Badly.
Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Gray lunging into battle with an expression on his face that chilled Cobra. But Natsu could deal with that problem, Cobra had to focus on Midnight.
Cobra watched despondently as Midnight pleaded with his little brother to try and break him out of the demon's grasp.
Then both mages stiffened as a voice was heard in Midnight's head and echoed in Cobra's.
"The only way to save him from the demon's grip is to defeat him in battle." A female spoke directly into Midnight's mind and by extension Cobra's.
"No." Midnight moaned hoarsely as blood sluggishly dripped from his wound.
Aito took this opportunity to attack.
The blade flashed, but Midnight's magic finally kicked in, reflecting the attack around him. But Midnight still made no attempt to move away from where he was standing even as attack after attack were diverted by his magic.
Midnight still refrained from making a move to attack, and Cobra wondered if Midnight was still limited to using one type of magic - at this point defensive - at once.
Or was he held back by the fact that his enemy was his little brother?
"Midnight, you have to fight him!" Cobra yelled. The voice had said that defeating the kid would break his soul from the demon's grasp, so Midnight had to fight.
Midnight's tear streaked face turned towards him.
"I can't." His voice was broken, and Cobra was terrified to see him this way.
"Then I'll do it for you." Cobra activated a small portion of his magic, causing his nails to grow into claws.
And then a loud crack echoed as Midnight's hand connected with Cobra's cheek.
Cobra gasped as Midnight's crimson eyes glared at him.
"Don't you dare lay a hand on my brother." Midnight hissed, and Cobra nodded numbly. Midnight had hit him, and demonic influence couldn't be blamed this time.
"I'm sorry." Cobra muttered, allowing his magic to die down and his claws to shrink. He brought his hand up to nurse his injured cheek.
Midnight's eyes widened minutely, and Cobra heard his apology repeated in Midnight's head, and he understood that that was Midnight's way of expressing his own sorrow.
This moment of reconciliation was ended when Cobra felt a blade lodge into the back of his own shoulder.
He yelped in surprise as he felt the blade slide out of his shoulder, the pain increasing as the blade left.
"You're in my way." The voice was whiney, the childish part of the spirit shining through.
Cobra jumped forwards, pushing Midnight to the ground as the blade flashed over their heads.
"Get out of the way!" The child screamed, summoning an unknown power and flinging Cobra out of the way and into a building, causing some of the rubble to fall down on him.
The child flickered over to where Cobra was lying. Smirking he clicked his fingers and the building crumbled around them, smothering Cobra in a layer of dust and debris.
Midnight watched as this scene unfolded in muted horror.
He observed Cobra rising from the rubble just as Aito charged forward, going in for the kill. That was the moment when Midnight formed a barrier in front of his battered comrade Cobra collapsed just minutes after. Midnight realised that he had to fight his brother, not only for his sake but for his comrades as well. Before his brother was well and truly lost to the demon, Midnight had to end this fight.
Sorry this is so late, but we hope that you enjoyed it anyway. See you next time.